Numerous MobileMe users reported experiencing outages of Apple's current cloud service on Thursday, even as the fall launch of iCloud looms.

AppleInsider readers have noted being unable to access MobileMe Mail. Apple's system status page for its web service currently states that 25 percent of members may be unable to access MobileMe Mail, and some members may be unable to access www.me.com web apps and Find My iPhone. All other MobileMe services are listed as "online and fully operational."

MacRumors noted that Apple late Thursday had cautioned on its status page that as many 75 percent of MobileMe Mail users might be experiencing problems.

MobileMe is, at this point, a 'lame duck' service, as it is scheduled to shut down on June 30, 2012. Apple plans to move existing members over to its upcoming iCloud service, a complete reworking of the company's cloud-based offerings.

But, Apple has indicated that it will eliminate some of MobileMe's less-used features, such as iDisk, MobileMe Gallery and iWeb publishing. After receiving customer complaints about lost functionality from the switch, Apple said it was open to considering adding back features "if there's enough feedback on the subject."

The Cupertino, Calif., company is expected to announce a release date for iCloud next week's media event to unveil a new iPhone, as it's unlikely that Apple would launch the fifth-generation iPhone without iCloud. Currently, the service is in a limited beta test.

Last week, the company released a developer build of Mac OS X 10.7.2 with iCloud integrated. Developer accounts have had their iCloud data wiped in preparation for an imminent launch of the service.

Not a good sign considering that email is one of the few services surviving the transition to iCloud. Mine has been down now for about 8 hours. Considering how successful Apple is at keeping the iTunes Store up and running without a hitch, the stability and robustness of all their other online services, including both MobileMe and the Apple Store, is shocking.

To all those worried, Apple will be leavin access to iDisk and Gallery open until the cutoff date (June 30, 2012), even if you move everything else over to iCloud. Also, as some have said, for the first year of your iCloud service, you will get an additional 20GB of storage (25GB total).

Hoping that soon enough Apple will decide to allow us to consolidate iTunes accounts via iCloud. Also, are they going to let current MobileMe users cancel as soon as iCloud comes out to get a refund on the remainder of the year?

Not a good sign considering that email is one of the few services surviving the transition to iCloud. Mine has been down now for about 8 hours. Considering how successful Apple is at keeping the iTunes Store up and running without a hitch, the stability and robustness of all their other online services, including both MobileMe and the Apple Store, is shocking.

My Mail is still not working as of 6am Pacific, and I think the problem began at least 8 hours ago. If this is deliberate, it seems they would have said something.

If there was any doubt left that Apple is dooooomed...
It started here today... this news, the turning point Apple history.

Lets see if Tall-Shill can defend this epic disaster...

AHAHAhahahahah.....

[breath]

.hahahahaha....

Thanks for a little perspective. A known upgrade that changes from a paid service to a superior free service is causing temporary bugs and some people will freak out. Always the way things go. I bet the whole companies dies and they close their doors by Oct.7 over this. Lol!

OSX, because making UNIX user friendly is easier than debugging windows.

I've been sending & receiving mail pretty much normal from my iphone but since about 8-9 pm EST last night my Mac would kick up SMTP password requests or the SMTP server was down, though a couple of times it worked normal. I wish they'd do this kind of thing on a weekend, not business days.

A known upgrade that changes from a paid service to a superior free service is causing temporary bugs and some people will freak out. Always the way things go... Lol!

Well I may be in the minority but I don't see iCloud as a superior service to Mobile Me. Not with all the features it is leaving behind that I use on a daily basis. I'd gladly continue to pay for Mobile Me if it were offered along side iCould. My only complaint ever with Mobile Me was that the upload speed to iDisk was incredibly slow. Aside from that it was exemplary and I'm very sad to see it left behind.

I've been sending & receiving mail pretty much normal from my iphone but since about 8-9 pm EST last night my Mac would kick up SMTP password requests or the SMTP server was down, though a couple of times it worked normal. I wish they'd do this kind of thing on a weekend, not business days.

Why? The MobileMe terms of service say it's not meant and shouldn't be used for business use. I would imagine personal use is greater on weekends.

Well I may be in the minority but I don't see iCloud as a superior service to Mobile Me. Not with all the features it is leaving behind that I use on a daily basis. I'd gladly continue to pay for Mobile Me if it were offered along side iCould. My only complaint ever with Mobile Me was that the upload speed to iDisk was incredibly slow. Aside from that it was exemplary and I'm very sad to see it left behind.

I agree and it always was an incentive to buy a new Apple product annually for the discount.

Well I may be in the minority but I don't see iCloud as a superior service to Mobile Me. Not with all the features it is leaving behind that I use on a daily basis. I'd gladly continue to pay for Mobile Me if it were offered along side iCould. My only complaint ever with Mobile Me was that the upload speed to iDisk was incredibly slow. Aside from that it was exemplary and I'm very sad to see it left behind.

I think the additions to make iOS work more auto-magically alone will make it a better service in the long run. But I am not saying mobleme was bad, I have had an account since day one with my first iBook and never regretted it. I do hope that they either make a basic file storage alla idisk, or make a custom Apple app to sync files that don't have an associated app. The potential for the new version is much better, and could easily duplicate all the current services if a few apps that use the storage are made and made well.

The growing pains for certain things may be harsh though.

Aside: everyone I talk to complains about upload speed to iDisk, but i never had an issue, not sure why. Just how slow are we talking here?

OSX, because making UNIX user friendly is easier than debugging windows.

Has anyone else been getting occasional "Unable to validate certificate" errors on their iOS device when trying to send an email through MobileMe? I have been getting them occasionally for the past 3 days.

Scratch my earlier comment about Mail being up and running without a hitch. I've sent four messages and two of them keep on coming back as undeliverable and requesting my MobileMe password. It's 7:30 PST and I first noticed Mail was down 9pm PST last night.

Hoping that soon enough Apple will decide to allow us to consolidate iTunes accounts via iCloud. Also, are they going to let current MobileMe users cancel as soon as iCloud comes out to get a refund on the remainder of the year?

All is working again… at least for me. That was a long outage: 13 hours. They had enough time to unplug MobileMe servers in California and ship them to North Carolina.

I was hoping as my mail I wrote at 9:30am EST swooshed at 11:45am the problem has been resolved. This occured just as I read this post, but in trying to send a test it's been 20 minutes and still no swoosh. Another 15 minutes and it has not shown up in my other email accounts (non-Apple) inbox so it's stuck somewhere on an Apple Server.

As for features that are supposedly disappearing from MobileMe, I also am an heavy iDisk and iWeb user, as are many of my fellow Users Group members and I will be at a major loss when and if they are taken away.

To all those worried, Apple will be leavin access to iDisk and Gallery open until the cutoff date (June 30, 2012), even if you move everything else over to iCloud. Also, as some have said, for the first year of your iCloud service, you will get an additional 20GB of storage (25GB total).

There are many iDisk alternatives as has been discussed many times here. I like SugarSync because you can dedicate any folders you like and they will be backed up automatically. You also get a generous amount of storage for zilch. As for mmGallery, with SS, and I am sure DropBox, their gallery functionality is adequate and very easy to use.